VALHEIM.MAP

Valheim resources: what to gather in each biome

Gathering in Valheim splits into two jobs: picking things up by hand and mining deposits with a pickaxe. Pickaxes come in tiers, and a deposit will not yield unless your pickaxe meets its tier. This guide lists the pickaxes by tier, then goes through each biome with what you can gather there and what it takes.

Pickaxes by tier

PickaxeTier
Antler Pickaxe0
Stone Pickaxe0
Bronze Pickaxe1
Iron Pickaxe2
Black Metal Pickaxe3

The Antler Pickaxe and the Stone Pickaxe are both tier 0. A deposit that asks for tier 0 can be mined with either of them. Deposits that ask for tier 2 need the Iron Pickaxe or better, and tier 3 deposits need the Black Metal Pickaxe.

In the tables below, "By hand" means you pick the resource up without a pickaxe. "Mined" means you break it out of a deposit.

Meadows

Everything in the Meadows is picked by hand, so you do not need a pickaxe here.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
DandelionBy handNone
FlintBy handNone
MushroomBy handNone
RaspberriesBy handNone

Black Forest

The Black Forest is where mining starts. Copper Ore and Tin Ore are both mined from deposits, and both need only tier 0, so the Antler Pickaxe or the Stone Pickaxe will do. The rest is picked by hand.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
BlueberriesBy handNone
Carrot SeedsBy handNone
Copper OreMined0
MushroomBy handNone
ThistleBy handNone
Tin OreMined0

Swamp

The Swamp has a mix of requirements. Withered Bone is mined from a deposit and needs only tier 0. Scrap Iron is also mined, but it needs tier 3, which means the Black Metal Pickaxe.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
MushroomBy handNone
Scrap IronMined3
ThistleBy handNone
Turnip SeedsBy handNone
Withered BoneMined0

Mountains

Both resources here are mined, and both need tier 2. That makes the Iron Pickaxe the lowest pickaxe that works in this biome.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
ObsidianMined2
Silver OreMined2

Plains

Cloudberries are the only resource listed for the Plains, and you pick them by hand.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
CloudberriesBy handNone

Mistlands

The Mistlands has the most demanding deposits. Black Marble, Copper Scrap and Scrap Iron all need tier 3, so you need the Black Metal Pickaxe. Yggdrasil Wood needs tier 4, which is higher than the tier 3 of the Black Metal Pickaxe. Jotun Puffs and Magecap are picked by hand.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
Black MarbleMined3
Copper ScrapMined3
Jotun PuffsBy handNone
MagecapBy handNone
Scrap IronMined3
Yggdrasil WoodMined4

Ashlands

Two resources here are mined and two are picked by hand. The mined ones, Grausten and Proustite Powder, are both listed at tier 0. That is a lower requirement than the Swamp's Scrap Iron or anything in the Mistlands, even though the Ashlands comes later in the order of biomes.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
Charred SkullBy handNone
GraustenMined0
Proustite PowderMined0
Smoke PuffBy handNone

Deep North

Everything in the Deep North is picked by hand, so you do not need a pickaxe here.

ResourceHowPickaxe tier needed
Kale SeedsBy handNone
LingonberriesBy handNone
SnowballBy handNone

Quick reference

Some resources turn up in more than one biome:

Seeds are picked by hand in three biomes:

Here is what each pickaxe tier lets you mine:

Pickaxe tierDeposits you can mine
0Copper Ore, Tin Ore, Withered Bone, Grausten, Proustite Powder
2Obsidian, Silver Ore, plus all of the tier 0 deposits
3Scrap Iron, Black Marble, Copper Scrap, plus all of the lower-tier deposits
4Yggdrasil Wood

The Mountains are the first biome where a tier 0 pickaxe is not enough. The Swamp, the Mistlands and the Ashlands each mix hand-picked resources with mined ones. The Meadows, the Plains and the Deep North need no pickaxe at all.

Written from the game data of Valheim 1.0.17, last updated October 10, 2026.

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